MotoGP’s New Owner Liberty Media Incentivises for Non-Italian and Non-Spanish Riders
Since its inception, MotoGP or rather the World Motorcycle GP back then, had always seen the field being full of Italian riders before the influx of Spanish riders. a of today, of the 22 riders in the MotoGP line up, 15 are either Italians or Spanish, which equates to 68% of the field. So, MotoGP’s new owner, Liberty Media wants to change that.
Their plan includes new financial incentives from 2026 to 2028 for teams that hire riders from other than those two countries. The incentive plan covers all three classes, namely Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP.
What the company says, without specifically mentioning Italy and Spain is “Any team that hire and win with riders from countries that have an officially reported population of more than 100,000 people and have less than 10% representation in the MotoGP paddock—between Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP—get up to €200,000 (RM948,960.00).” Yes, that would include a team with a Malaysian rider.
Of course, there are detractors of this scheme, calling it passports over meritocracy. Italy has had many grassroots racing events that feed riders into the world championship, event before MotoGP was officially born under the FIM. Spain’s local championships became the hotbed for young international talents for at least 10 years now, birthing riders like Pedro Acosta.
Still, we think it is a great way to diversify MotoGP’s line up. What remains to be seen is whether the teams will find riders of nationalities who can match the current crop of Italian and Spanish riders, as the incentive will only be paid out the the winning rider and team.
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